A/n: Don't hate me for this one…

Chapter Twelve

The two beds and small table didn't make much room for all of us, especially not for the boys. Needless to say, Sidney was less than excited to share a room with the four others. Ophelia and I told him he had no choice, and he huffily agreed. After getting everyone set up in beds and bedrolls, we all met in Ophelia, Jocelyn, and I's room. There was simply more room there.

"Okay," I said once everyone settled in. "We've got quite the situation on our hands."

Tom snorted. "Do we ever," he said. "The three of us don't even know what's going on."

I gave him a sharp look. "If you stopped interrupting me and actually listened, you'd have realized that I was about to explain that to you," I snapped.

He gave me a sneaky smile. "Of course, I'm terribly sorry Nora," he replied thickly.

Ignoring his sarcasm, I continued on. I spilled my guts to them, explaining the curse, Lucinda, and the history of the Oderians. I told them of Lucinda's threat to my parents, and how I hoped to break the curse by saving them. I also threw in Sam's connection to the Oderians, Sidney's background, and Ophelia's connection with the Lady. I basically gave them every tidbit of information I could. When I finally finished, and heaved a huge breath and gave them a look.

Mac was the first to break the silence. He began to laugh. "Um….Nora?" he asked. "Don't you think that's a bit far fetched?"

Tom nodded. "What do you think we are?" he asked. "Idiots? Sam, come on. You can't expect us to believe this."

"No, I don't think she's lying, lads," Chaz said. "Why would she have any reason to lie to us?"

Tom snorted. "To con the conmen!" he cried. "Of course! It's a brilliant plan, I see through it!"

"Tom, please," Sam replied. "Do you honestly think I'd lie to you?"

Mac smiled. "Yes, Tom, I do believe Sam's right. We've known him forever," he said. "I don't really think he's got anything to lie about. If Sam believes her, I do too."

The four of them bickered for awhile, Chaz, Sam, and Mac trying to convince Tom that I wasn't lying. It was so irritating to me. Why would I lie about this? It's not as though I planned it! As I pondered my importance to the situation, Ophelia was slowly closing her eyes. I placed my hand absentmindedly on her knee, and immediately pulled it away. She was too warm. I glanced at her quickly. She's about to receive a message from the Lady!

"Shh! Quiet, all of you!" I cried, throwing myself hands into their angry little circle. "Look at Ophelia!"

Ophelia's eyes were closed and her hands were neatly placed in her lap. "The doubt will pass," she murmured. "The time will soon come when they will believe. It will be sooner than you think."

She shuddered and opened her eyes. No one spoke, but everyone was looking at her. I had a feeling no one knew what to think.

"The Lady," Mac whispered. "You--you can communicate with the Lady."

Ophelia nodded. "Yes," she replied softly. "How did you know?"

"My mother died when I was very little. But she used to do what you just did. She called them her "spells." Right before she died, she told me that the Lady would watch out for me, because she'd asked Her to. That's when I knew my mother had some sort of connection to the Lady," he explained.

Tom's jaw dropped. "You believe her?" he cried. "Are you serious? Anyone could fake what she just did."

Ophelia gasped angrily. She stood up and marched over to Tom. "You listen to me, you conceited, skeptical charlatan. I've got no reason to deceive you. For some reason, one that is unknown to us, the Lady wants you here. If your loyalties lie elsewhere, so be it. You'll regret it later. But for now, please show me the respect I deserve, because I don't think I've done anything to offend you," she said.

I raised my eyebrows at Sidney. He didn't see me, he was too busy staring at Ophelia in awe. "Um… right," I said awkwardly. "So, um, you see-"

I stopped talking and looked around. I sensed an uneasiness around us. Something didn't feel right. I stood up and wandered around, pausing at certain places in the room. Finally, I pressed my ear to the door. A searing pain, a burning, shot through my ear. I pulled back immediately.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, running to me.

"The door," I replied. "It's blisteringly hot!"

Sam gingerly placed his palm on the door. He too pulled back as soon as he felt it. "Dear Lady!" he cried, rubbing his hand. "What's going on?"

He opened the door. A wave of heat hit all of us, pushing us back. I peered out the door. The hallway was encompassed in flames, licking at our door and the rooms around us. Before we knew it, the fire was beginning to spread into our room. Ophelia leapt up, screaming. As Sidney shushed her, Sam turned to me.

"What should we do?" he called. "This fire isn't going to allow us back down to the tavern!"

Before I could say anything, Chaz had grabbed us and pulled us from the door to the window on the other side of the room. Miraculously, Mac, Jocelyn, Sidney, and Ophelia where already down safely on the ground, and Tom was making his way down the unstable ivy.

"All right, now you go down Nora, primrose," Sam said, ushering me to the window.

"Wait!" I cried. "Go ahead, Sam. Or Chaz."

Chaz shrugged and stepped out the window and began working his way down. I stuck my head out. "Does anyone need anything from the room?" I called down. "Are you missing anything?"

"Our bedrolls," Sidney called up sarcastically. "But I think that's it."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Yes, we're fine Nora," Ophelia said. "Come down!"

I glanced at Sam. "After you," he said, bowing.

I laughed as I lowered myself through the window. Going down the side of the inn was a lot harder than it looked. The ivy was slick from the dew of night, and my feet were having a hard time finding something secure to stand on. Finally, I reached the bottom and stood up, wiping my hands on my pants. Sam jumped down next to me.

Instead of watching the building burn down, which a number of people seemed to be doing, we headed to the stables. "We ought to get our horses," Chaz explained. "Be on our way…this seems too premeditated."

"What?" Sidney said. "Of course not. It was a bar fire, nothing serious. They happen all the time."

I sighed, sensing tension already. "Excuse us," I said, pulling Sidney to the side of the path. "Go on to the stables. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Ophelia looked from me to Sidney and nodded. Everyone else kind of shrugged and kept on their way. Once they were out of earshot, I turned to Sidney angrily. He was just standing there, his arms folded. He was glaring at me like nothing I'd ever seen before.

"What is wrong with you?" I cried, matching his stare. "You're acting like such a brute!"

He snorted. "You should talk, you idiot!" he retorted. "Dragging with you a bunch of commoners! Is that anyway to act, princess?"

"How dare you!" I said, stomping my foot. "I've been a commoner all my life, yet you befriended me! And it seems to me that you're certainly smitten by a commoner, Prince Sidney!"

"What are you talking about?" Sidney said, avoiding looking me in the eye.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Sidney," I replied. "Ophelia."

He shot me a look of repulsion. "Are you kidding?" he spat. "Ophelia's half my age. I-I'd never be besotted with some eleven year old girl!"

I laughed. "Okay," I replied. "Whatever you say, Sidney."

Sidney snorted and turned away from me, pressing his hand to his forehead. "Ohh," he moaned. "My head is bothering me again. It's been aching all day."

I started walking off. "Of course," I said, my back to him. "What a diversion, Sidney."

I turned around to coax him to follow me. But as soon as I opened my mouth, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground, his body going limp. I screamed and ran to him. Falling down next to him, I felt his forehead and placed my head on his chest. Although his head was hot and already damp, his heart was beating.

"Ophelia!" I yelled. "Sam! Anyone!"

I heard the clattering of horse's hooves and calmed down. Ophelia was suddenly at my side. "What happened?" she asked, as the rest of the group crowded around us.

"He complained of a headache, and then just fell to the ground a few moments later," I explained. "He's already clammy."

Ophelia examined him herself, and then nodded. "This has happened before," she said. "A few days ago. He fell off his horse and began walking to the woods. When he finally snapped out of the fit, he said a woman had been calling to him, telling him to follow her."

I stood up and looked around, thinking. "This is Lucinda's work," I said. "I know it."

Tom snorted. "I doubt that, Nora," he replied from atop his horse. "Sidney had a fit. It's nothing I wouldn't expect from such a tart."

"Shut up, Tom," I snapped, looking up at him. "You've got no idea what we're dealing with here…and how did you get a horse? You stole one, didn't you?"

Tom grinned. "Not steal…borrow, perhaps?" he said, laughing.

Suddenly, with a sputtering breath, Sidney sat up. Ophelia forced him to lay back down and handed him a bottle full of water. "Drink," she said. "Then tell us what happened."

Sidney nodded and gratefully drank the water. "It was the same thing as last time," he replied. "There was a woman, looking deep, deep into my eyes. She was telling me to follow her."

"What did she look like?" Mac asked.

"I couldn't really tell," he replied. "She-she was wearing a black veil."

I offered Sidney a hand and helped him stand up. "We should be on our way," I said. "I agree with Chaz; this seems too premeditated."

Sidney nodded, taking his horse's reins from Ophelia. "Me too," he said, pulling himself up. "Let's get back to the main road. It's safer there."

"No it's not!" Jocelyn cried. "If this was planned, they'll be waiting there."

"Don't be ridiculous, Joss," Sam said. "They'll be expecting us to use the woods."

And with that, Sam and Sidney took off, followed by Ophelia, Chaz and Mac, and Tom. I gave Jocelyn a reluctant smile. "What can you do?" I said.

She laughed. "I know," she replied, riding off.

We caught up to the group and rode slowly back to the Broken Bottle, which was now nothing but two and a half charred walls. But the bizarre thing was the lack of people. When we'd left the scene, there had been a growing number of people watching the burning. Now it was deserted and oddly silent. Like March, when I'd found Ophelia.

"This is weird," Mac said. "It's silent."

"Everyone's gone," Ophelia said. "Should we still go into town?"

"No," I said firmly. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's go to the woods, like Jocelyn suggested."

"Come off it, Nora!" Tom yelled. "It's safer on the streets. Let's go."

I rode up next to him and gritted my teeth. Looking him straight in the eye, I said, "Tom, we're riding through the woods. That's final."

"No, Princess Nora, we're not," he replied angrily. "Don't you-"

"Stop it, you two!" Sam cried. "Listen!"

We stopped arguing for a few moments. In the silence, we heard an ugly pantings coming from a number of horses, and the sound of banging hooves. I gave Sam an uneasy glance, and he gave me a weak smile back. Sidney drew out his sword, and all of us followed suit, pulling out swords, staffs, arrows, and daggers.

"What in the Lady's name is that?" Jocelyn whispered.

I shook my head. "Woods, now," I said. "It's obvious there's something going on on the road."

The sounds died off abruptly and uncomfortably. The air was thick with tension as we turned our backs to the road and trotted off to the woods. But before we took sanctuary within the trees, a number of arrows came soaring through the air, piercing Chaz's horse. The horse keeled over, dead before it hit the ground, Chaz and Mac falling to the ground with it. They struggled to stand up quickly.

I whirled around my horse to unearth a horrible site. Standing before me, at the other edge of the Broken Bottle's clearing, where seven or eight huge black horses, with knights dressed completely in black on top of them. One of then was holding a black banner with the Kyrrian crest in the middle. It was engulfed in fiery red flames. I knew at once who it was.

"Oderians!" I cried to the others.

Tom scooped up Mac, placing him on the back of his horse, and Jocelyn helped Chaz onto her hers. We all turned, weapons in our hands, to face them. The largest one, standing in the middle, rose his hand, uttering a horrible scream. Before we knew what hit us, forest plunged into darkness.

A/n: So do you hate me now? I love cliffhangers! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll post!